Saturday, March 7, 2015

Bill Keller, Bully

Thursday UPDATE: Lengthy explanation by a top editor at The Guardian on why he took down the Emma Keller piece, and her response. Must-reading.

Wednesday UPDATE: The NYTcarries several letters, including one from Lisa Adams' brother, roasting Keller. On Twitter she says she is pleased.

Tuesday UPDATE: Not much new overnight. Just a lot more coverage from news outlets and bloggers. Guardian "investigation" continues. Wash Posthere. Wired here. Digby here.

And don't miss Meghan O'Rourke at The New Yorker, probing why some of the Kellers' points were very good but their overall tone very bad. "While many of the questions addressed in each column could have led to a
worthwhile discussion, their approaches were ad hominem and, at best,
insensitive to the lived realities of Adams’s life. She may be allowing
us to overhear her decisions, but she is not asking us to callously
debate them as if she were not still here."

UPDATE #4: The NYTposts a news story tonight on The Guardian deleting Emma Keller's column--and gets new comments from her husband on his own horrid Times piece. B. Keller continues to defend his piece, blaming criticism on "political correctness" and citing "perverse" complaints about his wife's opus. The Times reporter, in citing complaint about killing Guardian column, seems unaware that likely reason was not stifling opinion but E. Keller's unethical use of quotes from patient Adams.

UPDATE #3: As I suggested below (and fully expected a positive response) the NYT's fine public ed. has now weighed in, breaking her usual policy of not commenting on the views expressed in opinion columns by critiquing Keller. She also asked for and got Keller's response to the wide criticism of what he wrote (as in his replies to criticism of his war hawk views he is largely dismissive) and the fact that his wife had taken up the subject just a bit earlier. Keller claims critics "misread" or "missed the point" of the column when the reality is we have recognized what he's getting at all too easily. Right down to the therapy dogs.

And as Sullivan writes:"Mr. Keller’s views here fall within what journalists would call 'fair comment' only to the extent that they are based on facts." His column suggests Keller "didn’t make a full effort to understand the point of view of the person he’s writing about."

UPDATE #2: Intrigue? Now The Guardian says the E. Keller piece was pulled "pending investigation." Wonder if the Kellers protested...

Earlier: Bill Keller, the now-laughable NYT columnist who, as executive editor defended Judy Miller and mocked critics of the Times' Iraq WMD coverage (and, learning nothing, recentlh called for bombing Syria and aiding the al-Qaeda rebels), now hits a cancer victim when she's down--after Bill's wife Emma Keller did the same over at The Guardian). Basic message, between the lines: Just die, woman, though with dignity. Papa Bill knows best. Much more from me on this at The Nation.

is author of a dozen books (click on covers at right), including the new "THE TUNNELS: Escapes Under the Berlin Wall and the Historic Films the JFK White House Tried to Kill." He was the longtime editor of Editor & Publisher. Email: epic1934@aol.com. Twitter: @GregMitch

3 comments:

Larry St Croix
said...

I don't know how it works where Lisa is but here, those of us who have therapy dogs do not charge. Not for gas, the special shampoos etc we use, nothing. It is a labor of love.

Maybe somebody could try to explain that to Mr Keller although I have my doubts that he would understand the concept of doing something because it brings joy and comfort to others and not for financial gain.

I don't understand why he is so worried about 'the cost', he is not paying for it! What a miserable man.

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